Vending machine with removable supply container



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG L. W ,.CH E SL AK ETAL I VENDING MACHINE WITHREMOVABLE SUPPLY CONTAINER FIG.

Filed March 19 1968 Dec. 30, 1969 S W m W2. w W7 1 r I LPE VENDINGMACHINE WITH REMOVABLE SUPPLY CONTAINER Filed March 19, 1968 Dec. 30,1969 'L. w.'cHESLAK ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent US. Cl.221-197 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE ment unlocks the latch tofree the door for uncovering,

the cartridge opening. Opening of the door holds the cartridge captivein the compartment and prevents its removal until the door is againclosed.

The dispensing means preferably includes a plurality of slides forwardlyand rearwardly reciprocable beneath a cartridge in said compartment,pivoted pushers on the slides having article-engaging portions formoving and dispensing articles out of the cartridge upon reciprocationof the slides. Each article-engaging portion is biased to maintain aforce on the superjacent article during reciprocation of its slide sothat even rapid reciproca tion of the slide is ineffective to dispensemore than one article.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present inventionrelates generally to vending machines including replaceablearticle-holding cartridges.

Description of prior art Prior art vending machines utilizingreplaceable cartridges generally include no practicable means forunlocking cartridges subsequent to their insertion into the machine.Also, the cartridges can be separated from the vending machines withoutlocking the cartridges, so that the contents of the removed cartridgesare undesirably accessible to vending personnel and others. That is,prior art machines do not require that cartridges be in a lockedcondition both when being installed in the vending machine and whenbeing removed from the machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is characterized by avending machine for receiving an article-holding cartridge which isnormally locked to prevent access to such articles. The machine includesa cartridge compartment having a mechanism for unlocking the cartridgeand cooperative with the cartridge to prevent its removal from suchcabinet until the cartridge is re-locked. Thus, cartridges may bere-filled at central plants and locked'for distribution by vendingmachine service personnel. Not only does this remove the possibility oftheft of the contents of the cartridges, but it assures an accurateaccounting of the articles actually dispensed by any machine.

Other features and objects of the present invention will become apparentfrom a consideration of the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings.

3,486,658 Patented Dec. 30, 1969 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 7 isan enlarged horizontal sectional view taken along the lines 7-7 of FIG.3;

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines 8-8 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the lines 99of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a partial vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale,showing a cartridge installed in the vending machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken along the lines11-11 of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12. is a partial perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of aportion of the dispensing apparatus of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT door 25 is secured to a hingetube 27 and is rotatable with the tube 27 to open or uncover thedispensing opening 23 to permit dispensing of the contained articles.

The rotatable tube 27 which mounts the door 25 telescopably receives anon-rotatable latching tube 31 which, as best viewed in FIG. 7, is fixedat one end to the stationary structure of the cartridge C. The oppositeend of the tube 31 which lies within the tube 27 fixedly mounts thecylindrical plug of a conventional cylinder tumbler lock 33. As is wellknown, insertion of the appropriate key in the plug of the lock 33aligns the lock tumblers so that the barrel thereof, in this case asleeve 29, can rotate. As will be seen, the sleeve 29 is fixed to thetube 27 and therefore prevents rotation of the tube 27, and consequentlythe door 25, until the lock 33 is operated as aboveindicated to releasethe barrel for rotation. Moreover, the recessed position of the lock 33within the extension portion or shroud 117 of the tube 27 renders accessto the lock 33 difiicult without a special key.

For this purpose, a key 37 is secured to a mounting tube 39 which isattached to the wall of the cartridgereceiving compartment 21 forslidably fitting within the tube 27. The key 37 is thus automaticallyfitted within the lock 33 when the cartridge C is positioned in thecompartment 21.

Referring to FIG. 1, the particular cabinet K illustrated isparticularly suited for receiving cartridges filled with cigarettepackages for dispensing through a delivery chute 51, and includes aplurality of display windows 43 on its face for displaying the variousbrands of cigarettes in the cartridge C. The description of the presentapparatus in connection with the dispensing of cigarettes is, of course,merely exemplary since the apparatus is obviously equally well adaptedfor dispensing various other types of articles.

A plunger or slide 47 is provided for each of the various brands ofcigarettes, and is released for movement upon insertion of the propercombination of coins in a coin slot 49. The coin acceptance mechanismdoes not form a part of the invention and a description of the mechanismwill therefore be omitted for brevity. Various suitable mechanisms arecommercially available.

As seen in FIG. 1, the cabinet K includes a door 54 hinged for pivotalmovement about a vertical axis to open the cartridge compartment 21 andenable the cartridge C to be inserted. The cartridge C includes front,back and end walls 55, 57, 59 and 61, respectively, preferablyintegrally formed from one piece of apertured metal. Referring to FIGS.2, 3, and 10, a plurality of vertical partitions 65 are affixed withinthe cartridge C and define vertical columns 67 to receive verticallystacked cigarette packages 69. The top of the cartridge C is closed by aremovable flanged lid 73. At the bottom of the cartridge C a metal strip77 is afiixed to the lower portion of the front wall 55.

As best viewed in FIG. 4, the strip 77 includes a plurality ofrearwardly bent fingers 79 transversely spaced apart to definerearwardly extending parallel slots 81. The rear extremities of eachfinger 79 includes beveled portions 85 Whose purpose will subsequentlybe described.

A pair of strips 87 and 89 are secured to the bases of the end walls 59and 61, respectively, the strip 87 mounting a bearing 91 within whichone extremity of the hinge tube 27 is journalled. At the opposite end ofthe cartridge C, as best viewed in FIGS. 6 and 7, the strip 89 includesa rearwardly projecting mounting tab 95 which extends through a slot 97which is formed in the wall of the hinge tube 27. This is the fixedcartridge structure to which the one end of the latching tube 31 issecured, the securement being provided by screws 99 extending throughthe tab 95 and through an annular flange 101 which surrounds and issecured to the end of the tube 31. The tube 27 projects beyond the tab95 and mounts a perpendicular handle, or hand grip portion 102.

Referring to FIG. 11, the latching tube 31 is secured to the core, ortumbler portion of the lock 33 and the barrel of such lock has a tube107 telescoped thereover and is attached thereto. The coupling tube 107is stepped at 111 to form an increased diameter portion 113 which isafiixed to the hinge tube 27 by set screws 115. The difference indiameter between the reduced in diameter portion of tube 107 and theinner diameter of the hinge tube 27 forms an elongated guide annulus forslidably accommodating an elongated alignment sleeve 121 which istelescoped over the tube 39 and includes an annular mounting flange 123which overlies a similar flange 119 of the tube 39, both the flanges 119and 123 being secured to the adjacent wall of the cabinet K by screws125 to fix the tube 39 and the sleeve 121 in position.

A cylindrical plug 129 is disposed in the end of the mounting tube 39and is fixed to the tube 39 by a set screw 130. The plug 129 fixedlymounts the end of the key 37, the tumbler engaging shank thereofprojecting axially for disposition within the lock 33 when the latchingtube 31 is slidably telescoped within the alignment sleeve 121.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 8 and 9, the hinge tube 27 includes a latch lever131 which projects through a slot 132 formed in the rear wall 57 of thecartridge C. The lever 131 is attached to the lower extremity of a latchcable 133 which extends upwardly through a tubular sheath 134 suitablyfixed to the end wall 61 of the cartridge C. The upper end of the cable133 is connected to a plunger 135 which is journalled through a pair ofvertically aligned plunger housings 137. An L-shaped hinge member 138 ishingedly secured to the flanged rim of the cartridge cover 73 andprojects inwardly through a slot 139 formed in the wall 61 of thecartridge C. The hinge member 138 includes a bore 140 through which theplunger 135 projects. In addition, the opposite end of the lid 73includes a peg 141 which projects through a bore in the wall 59 of thecartridge C to prevent removal of the lid while the plunger is in thelocking position illustrated. However, rotation of the tube 27 rotatesthe latch lever 131 to pull down upon the plunger 135. This makes itpossible to pivot the member 138 outwardly to its unlocked position sothat the cover 73 can be pivoted about its peg 141 to afford access tothe cartridge interior through its top. Of course, such access could nothave been obtained without first unlocking the lock 33 and rotating thetube 27.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 10, a pair of horizontal transversely extendingangles 142 are welded to the front and rear walls 55 and 57 of thecartridge C and are slidable along a pair of complemental rails 143 and144 which are fixed within the compartment 21. This supports thecartridge C in position within the compartment 21 of the cabinet K. Aretainer 145 is secured to the rail 143 and is formed to overlie andretain the angle 137 in position on the rail.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 12, the cabinet K includes a mounting flange151 which projects rearwardly or inwardly from the lower portion of thefront wall of the cabinet K, and the forward or outward extremity of asupport plate 153 is mounted thereto. The support plate 153 includes aplurality of parallel, transversely spaced, and rearwardly extendingslots 155 which underlie the respective slots 81 in the bottom wall ofthe cartridge C. Each slide 47 underlies one of these slots 155 and isaflixed at its rearward extremity to one of a plurality of brackets 159by means of mounting fasteners 161.

Each bracket 159 includes transversely spaced and upstanding wallshaving aligned bores which receive the laterally projecting ears 167 ofa pusher 171. The rearward extremity of each pusher 171 includes an upwardly bent article-engaging portion 173, and a compression spring 175which biases the portion 173 upwardly. An oppositely located tab 177projects downwardly from the forward extremity of each pusher 171 and isaligned with a hole 181 out in the support plate 153. The front edges ofthe hole 181 form a stop 183.

The rear extremity of each slide 47 includes a downwardly projectingretraction flange 185 engaged by a retraction rod 187 which is supportedby a pair of arms 189 which are pivotally mounted at their lowerextremities to the cabinet K by pivot pins 191. The rod 187 is biasedrearwardly by tension springs 193 acting upon the arms 189. Thisnormally maintains the slides 47 in the retracted positions shown inFIG. 10.

The retraction rod 187 is coupled to a conventional coin mechanism D ofany suitable type, as previously indicated. A typical mechanism includesa bracket 195 slidable forwardly and rearwardly on a track 197 which issecured to the side wall of the cabinet K. Forward and rearward movementof the bracket 195 is controlled by a cam 199 which is engaged by acontrol arm 201 carried by such bracket 195.

In operation, the cartridge C is preferably filled with cigarettepackages 69 at a central processing plant, and vendor personnel thendeliver and insert the cartridge in a cabinet K located in a store,hotel, or the like. The cartridge C is installed by opening the door 55and positioning the angles 147 of the cartridge C on the rails 143 and144. The cartridge C can then he slid sideways into the compartment 21.

Since the springs 175 normally bias the article-engaging portions 173 ofthe pushers 171 upwardly into the hori- Zontal plane of the fingers 79,on insertion of the cartridge C the beveled portions 85 of such fingerengage and push the portions 173 rearwardly and downwardly against thebias of the springs 175. In this manner the pushers 171 are rotated totheir retracted positions, enabling the fingers 79 to consecutively passover them.

During sliding of the cartridge C along the rails 143 and 144, theshroud 117 of the hinge tube 27 telescopes over the alignment sleeve121. Upon full insertion, the slots 79 are aligned with the pushers 171,respectively, and the shank of the key 37 is fully inserted in the lock33. This positions the lock tumblers such that the sleeve 29 is releasedfor rotation. The handle 102 can then be grasped to rotate the door 25to its open position, as shown in FIG. 10. A stop 202 is mounted on thewall of the compartment 21, adjacent the door 25, to limit openingrotation of such door.

In the open position of the door 25, the cartridge C cannot be removedfrom the cabinet K, and access cannot be had to the dispensing opening23 of the cartridge C. Also, since the cartridge C closely fits thecabinet K, the lid 73 cannot be removed to gain access to the top ofsuch cartridge. Locking of the door 55 of the cabinet K then closes andlocks the vending machine so that it is ready for the dispensing ofcigarettes.

When a smoker identifies his brand of cigarette in the viewing window 43and inserts the appropriate combination of coins in the coin-slot 49this frees the cam 199 of the coin device D for rotation. This enablesthe bracket 195 to slide forwardly on the track 197 when the selectedslide 47 is pulled forwardly.

The forwardly or outwardly moving slide 47 causes the articleengagingportion 173 to slide beneath the bottom of the lowermost pack ofcigarettes 69 until the pusher 171 passes beyond the forward end of suchpack. The spring 175 will then rotate the portion 173 upwardly to itsejecting position, shown in broken lines in FIG. 10, so that uponrelease of such slide 47 the spring 193 Will pull the retraction bar 187rearwardly and consequently pull the associated slide 47 rearwardly tothereby slide the bottom package 69 from underneath the other stackedpackages.

When the control arm 201 reaches the end of its rearward travel, it willre-engage the coin device cam and again is locked in position,preventing forward movement of the bar 187 until another propercombination of coins is inserted.

It is important that the compression springs 175 bias the respectivepushers 171 clockwise, as shown in FIG. 10, with sufficient force toprevent an operator from inserting the proper combination of coins inthe slot 49 and then pulling the selected slide 47 partially forwardandmoving it back and forth to work more than one cigarette package 69out of the dispensing opening 23.

When an empty or partially empty cartridge C is to be removed from thecabinet K, the door 54 is unlocked and opened. Next, the hand-gripportion 102 of the hinge tube 27 is grasped and rotated to close thedoor 25. This frees the lock 33 for separation from the key 37, therebylocking the cylinder of the lock 33 relative to the sleeve 105 andpreventing rotation of the hinge tube 27 relative to the latching tube31. Since the latching mechanism for the lid 73 of the cartridge C isentirely enclosed, within a channel 210, the vending service man who isremoving the cartridge C is unable to gain access to any of the packages69 remaining in the cartridge C. Moreover, even if the individualservicing the present vending machine were able to obtain the proper key37, he would have difiiculty reaching the lock 33 because of itsrecessed position within the shroud 117.

When the cartridge C is returned to the central facility for refilling,a key 37 is inserted in the lock 33 to free the sleeve 105 for rotationrelative to the cylinder of the lock 33. This enables the hinge tube 27to be rotated to rotate the latch lever 131 downwardly, thereby pullingthe latch plunger 135 downwardly in the housings 137 to clear the hingemember 138. The hinge member 138 can then be raised to clear the slot139 and the lid 73 can be removed for insertion of a fresh supply ofcigarette' packages 69. When the cartridge C has been refilled and thelid 73 put back in place, the door 25 is rotated to its closed positionto latch the lid 73 in covering relationship over the cartridge C, againmaking the cartridge inaccessible to unauthorized persons.

From the foregoing it will be clear that the vending machine of thepresent invention provides a means to prevent unauthorized removal ofarticles to be vended, and to prevent the dispensing of more than onearticle for a single actuation.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been hereinillustrated and described, it is understood that such illustration anddescription are illustrative only, and that the invention is not to belimited thereby but includes all of the modifications and variationsthereof which may be made by those skilled in the art within the scopeof the invention.

We claim:

1. A vending machine for vending articles and comprising:

a cabinet formed with a cartridge compartment, said cabinet includingdispensing means and a door release mechanism; and

a cartridge for containing said articles, said cartridge beingdisposable in housed position in said compartment and including adispensing opening for removal of said articles, said cartridge furtherincluding a door for covering said opening to hold said articles captivein said cartridge, and latching apparatus for normally latching saiddoor in covering relationship with said opening, said latching apparatusbeing normally inoperative to unlatch said door, and operative uponengagement with said release mechanism in said housed position of saidcartridge to render said latching apparatus operative to open said door,whereby operation of said dispensing means dispenses articles out ofsaid opening and whereby said cartridge is captive in said compartmentwhen said door is open.

2. A vending machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said latchingapparatus includes:

a rotatable hinge tube mounted on said cartridge and supporting saiddoor, a non-rotatable rod arranged telescopically with said tube andaflixed to said cartridge, and a lock including a cylinder and a sleeve,said cylinder being connected with said nonrotatable rod and said sleevebeing connected with said rotatable hinge tube; and

said release mechanism includes a key supported from said cabinet forbeing inserted in said lock to release said sleeve for rotation relativeto said rod to open said door.

3. A vending machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cartridgeincludes:

a loading opening;

a cover for covering said loading opening;

locking means for securing said cover to said cartridge,

said locking means being normally locked, and

coupling means for connecting said latching apparatus to said lockingmeans, whereby unlatching of said latching apparatus will unlock saidlocking means.

4. A vending machine as set forth in claim 2, wherein said latchingapparatus includes:

a shroud projecting beyond said lock and defining a passage foradmission of said release mechanism, said passage being sufficientlysmall to restrict access of an operators hand to said lock.

5. A vending machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein said locking meansincludes:

a plunger receiving hole in said cover;

a plunger housing afiixed to said cartridge;

a plunger journalled in said housing for projection through said hole;and

said coupling means includes a cable connecting said plunger with saidlatching apparatus for projecting said plunger through said hole whensaid latching apparatus is latched to lock said cover in coveringposition and retracting said plunger from said hole A vending machine asset forth in claim 3, wherein said cartridge includes: channel in saidlocking means and said coupling their ejecting position, projectupwardly through said the bottom side of a respective article as therespective slide is pulled forwardly, thus maintaining a respectivepusher in its retracted position, said biasing means further havingsufiicient resiliency to maintain said respective article-engagingportions engaged means is disposed in said channel to restrict accesswith an article overlying a respective slot whereby thereto. saidarticle cannot be worked out said dispensing A vending machinecomprising: opening by working a respective slide forwardly and cabinetincluding a compartment for storage of rearwardly without allowing saidslide to move sufi'lvertically stacked articles to be dispensed, saidcab- 10 ciently rearwardly to trip said coin device; inet being formedwith a rearwardly facing disa cartridge for storage of said verticallystacked articles pensing opening and having a bottom wall formeddisposable in said compartment through said carwith forwardly andrearwardly extending pusher-retridge-receiving opening, said cartridgeforming said ceiving slots, said cabinet further including a supportbottom wall and said pusher-receiving slots being plate spaced belowsaid bottom wall and a cartridgeformed with outwardly and rearwardlybeveled porreceiving opening in one side thereof; tions for engagingsaid article-engaging portions of a dispensing mechanism includingforwardly and rearsaid pushers to rotate said article-engaging portionswardly sliding slides supported under said support rearwardly anddownwardly as said cartridge is plate and a coin accumulating devicewhich is tripped moved sideways in said compartment thereby preby fullrearward movement of said slides after a venting said article-engagingportions from extendrespective slide has been actuated, said mechanisming unyieldingly up through said slots and stopping further includingpushers pivotally mounted intersideways movement of said cartridge insaid commediate the ends on said slides and formed on their partment.rearward extremities with upwardly projecting article References Citedengaging portions which, when the pushers are in UNITED STATES PATENTSpusher-receiving slots to engage the front end of said 2,099,267 11/1937Hackett 221-271 X articles, said mechanism still further including bias-21413304 12/1946 Fry 22127O X ing means for biasing said pusher intosaid ejecting 3,262,603 7/1966 schendorf et X portion, said means beingsufiiciently yieldable to enable the weight of a plurality of saidarticles to rotate said respective pushers to a retracted positionwhereby said article-engaging portions will ride along 30 SAMUEL F.COLEMAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 221-287

